Barry has defined a sense of humor as "a measurement of the extent to which we realize that we are trapped in a world almost totally devoid of reason. Laughter is how we express the anxiety we feel at this knowledge."[2]
Early life and education
Barry was born in Armonk, New York, where his father, David W. Barry, was a Presbyterian minister. He was educated at Wampus Elementary School, Harold C. Crittenden Junior High School (both in Armonk), and Pleasantville High School, where he was elected "Class Clown" in 1965. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Haverford College in 1969.[3]
As an alumnus of a Quaker-affiliated college, he avoided military service during the Vietnam War by registering as a religious conscientious objector.[4] Notwithstanding his father's vocation, Barry decided "early on" that he was an atheist.[5] He said, "The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes."[5]
Writing career
Barry began his journalism career in 1971, working as a general-assignment reporter for the Daily Local News in West Chester, Pennsylvania, near his alma mater, Haverford College. He covered local government and civic events and was promoted to City Editor after about two years. He also started writing a weekly humor column for the paper and began to develop his unique style. He remained at the newspaper through 1974. He then worked briefly as a copy editor at the Associated Press's Philadelphia bureau before joining Burger Associates, a consulting firm.[6]
At Burger, he taught effective writing to businesspeople. In his own words, he "spent nearly eight years trying to get various businesspersons to...stop writing things like 'Enclosed please find the enclosed enclosures,' but...eventually realized that it was hopeless."[7]
Brian Engler, Chair of the Fairfax Library Foundation, presents the 2013 Fairfax Prize to Dave Barry on September 22, 2013.
In 1981 he wrote a humorous guest column in The Philadelphia Inquirer about watching the birth of his son, which attracted the attention of Gene Weingarten, then an editor of the Miami Herald's Sunday magazine Tropic. Weingarten hired Barry as a humor columnist in 1983. Barry's column was syndicated nationally. Barry won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988 for "his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns."[8]
In response to a column in which Barry mocked the cities of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, for calling themselves the "Grand Cities", Grand Forks named a sewage pumping station after Barry in January 2002. Barry traveled to Grand Forks for the dedication ceremony.[9]
On October 31, 2004, Barry announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence of at least a year from his weekly column to spend more time with his family. In December 2005, Barry said in an interview with Editor & Publisher that he would not resume his weekly column, although he would continue such features as his yearly gift guide, his year-in-review feature, and his blog, as well as an occasional article or column.
On Sunday, September 22, 2013, the opening night of the 15th annual Fall for the Book festival in Fairfax, Virginia, Barry was awarded the event's highest honor, the Fairfax Prize,[11][12] honoring outstanding literary achievement, presented by the Fairfax Library Foundation.
Dave's World television series
From 1993 to 1997, CBS broadcast the sitcom Dave's World based on the books Dave Barry Turns 40 and Dave Barry's Greatest Hits. The show starred Harry Anderson as Barry and DeLane Matthews as his wife Beth. In an early episode, Barry appeared in a cameo role. After four seasons, the program was canceled shortly after being moved from its "coveted" Monday night slot[13] to the "Friday night death slot", so named because of its association with low viewership.[14]
Music
During college, Barry was in a band called the Federal Duck (the band actually issued a self-titled album on Musicor Records in 1968, but Barry was no longer in the group by that point) while at the Miami Herald, he and several of his colleagues created a band called the Urban Professionals, with Barry on lead guitar and vocals. They performed an original song called "The Tupperware Song" at the Tupperware headquarters in Orlando, Florida.[15]
Barry has run several mock campaigns for President of the United States, running on a libertarian platform. He has also written for the Libertarian Party's national newsletter.[19]
The screen adaptation of Barry's book Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys was released in 2005; it is available on DVD.[20]
Personal life
Barry married Lois Ann Shelnutt in 1969.[1] He married Beth Lenox in 1976. Barry and Lenox worked together at the Daily Local News, where they began their journalism careers on the same day in September 1971; they had one child, Robert, born October 8, 1980. Barry and Lenox divorced in 1993. In 1996, Barry married Miami HeraldsportswriterMichelle Kaufman;[21] they had a daughter, Sophie, in 2000.
Barry experienced tragedy in his family: his father and his youngest brother suffered from alcoholism, and his father died in 1984; his sister Mary Katherine was institutionalized for schizophrenia; and his mother died by suicide in 1987.[22][23]
Barry has had dogs named Goldie, Earnest, Zippy, and now Lucy. All have been mentioned regularly in Barry's columns.[24]
Works
Non-fiction
The Taming of the Screw (1983, with illustrator Jerry O'Brien)
Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months With Tools You Probably Have Around the Home (1984, with illustrator Jerry O'Brien)
Stay Fit and Healthy Until You're Dead (1985, with illustrator Jerry O'Brien)
Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week (1986, with illustrator Jerry O'Brien)
Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex (1987 with illustrator Jerry O'Brien)
Homes and Other Black Holes (1988)
Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (1989)
Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need (1991)
Dave Barry's Guide to Life (1991) (includes Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex, Babies and Other Hazards of Sex, Stay Fit and Healthy Until You're Dead and Claw Your Way to the Top)
Dave Barry Does Japan (1992)
Dave Barry's Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides (1994)
Novels (as listed above) with Ridley Pearson and Alan Zweibel.
Hard Listening, (July 2013) is an interactive ebook about his participation in a writer/musician band, the Rock Bottom Remainders. Published by digital publisher, Coliloquy, LLC[25]
Audio recordings
A Totally Random Evening With Dave Barry (1992)
A Prairie Home Companion: English Majors: A Comedy Collection for the Highly Literate (as guest) (1997)
The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool". It is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been presented since 1970. Finalists have been announced from 1980, ordinarily with two others beside the winner.
The Rock Bottom Remainders, also known as the Remainders, was an American rock charity supergroup consisting of popular published writers, most of them also amateur musicians. The band took its self-mocking name from the publishing term "remaindered book", a term for books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. Their performances collectively raised $2 million for charity from their concerts.
Mitchell David Albom is an American author, journalist, and musician. As of 2021, books he had authored had sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing inspirational stories and themes—a preeminent early one being Tuesdays with Morrie—themes that now weave their way through his books, plays, and films and stageplays.
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay by a specific writer who offers a personal point of view. In some instances, a column has been written by a composite or a team, appearing under a pseudonym, or a brand name. Some columnists appear on a daily or weekly basis and later reprint the same material in book collections.
Ridley Pearson is an American author of suspense, thriller and adventure books. Several of his books have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Ian McFarlane is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.
Greg Iles is a novelist who lives in Mississippi. He has published seventeen novels and one novella, spanning a variety of genres.
Gene Norman Weingarten is an American journalist, and former syndicated humor columnist for The Washington Post. He is the only two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Weingarten is known for both his serious and humorous work. Through September 2021, Weingarten's column, "Below the Beltway," was published weekly in The Washington Post magazine and syndicated nationally by The Washington Post Writers Group. Weingarten also writes Barney & Clyde, a comic strip with illustrations by David Clark.
Dave Marsh is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on rock music. He is also a committee member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press". Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by Rolling Stone sister publication Record, which itself folded in 1985. Trouser Press has continued to exist in various formats.
Arthur Bernard "Chip" Bok III is an American editorial cartoonist for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal and the Tampa Bay Times. He has illustrated some of Dave Barry's books, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1997.
Kingdom Keepers is a series of children's novels written by American author Ridley Pearson. The New York Times Bestselling series is published through Disney Editions and Disney Hyperion, and the first book was released on August 29, 2005. Its plot follows the adventures of five teens who, by day, are holographic hosts in the Disney Theme Parks. By night, they battle Disney villains to keep them from taking control of the parks, the Disney entertainment empire, and the world. The series' franchise also includes several other elements such as an online game and an interactive educational tour provided for school groups through Disney's Youth Education Series.
Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs is a 1997 humor book written by Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry, chronicling the results of his bad song survey. The survey started when he wrote a column about a song he thought was particularly bad, and he got such a response that in addition to a follow-up column, he decided to write an entire book about the results of the survey.
Alan Zweibel is an American television writer, author, playwright, and screenwriter whom TheNew York Times says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." An original Saturday Night Live writer, Zweibel has won five Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work in television, which includes It's Garry Shandling's Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Glenn O'Brien was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in GQ magazine and published a book with that title. He worked as a writer and editor at a number of publications, including Rolling Stone, Playboy, Interview, High Times, Spin, and Details. He also published the arts and literature magazine Bald Ego from 2003 to 2005.
Joel Selvin is an American San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle, which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music—including the No. 1 New York Times best-seller Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock with Sammy Hagar—and has interviewed many musical artists. Selvin has published articles in Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Billboard, and Melody Maker, and has written liner notes for dozens of recorded albums. He has appeared in documentaries about the music scene and has occasionally taken the stage himself as a rock and roll singer.
Samuel Barry is an American author, columnist, publishing professional, and musician.
Kathi Kamen Goldmark was an American author, columnist, publishing consultant, radio and music producer, songwriter, and musician. Goldmark was the author of the novel And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, co-authored or contributed to numerous other books, wrote a monthly column for BookPage with her husband, author and musician Sam Barry and produced the radio show West Coast Live. She was a member of the San Francisco band Los Train Wreck, and founding member of the all-author rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders. As President of "Don't Quit Your Day Job" Productions i,nI., she supervised the production of ten music and spoken-word CDs.
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies is a music reference book by American music journalist and essayist Robert Christgau. It was first published in October 1981 by Ticknor & Fields. The book compiles approximately 3,000 of Christgau's capsule album reviews, most of which were originally written for his "Consumer Guide" column in The Village Voice throughout the 1970s. The entries feature annotated details about each record's release and cover a variety of genres related to rock music.
Evelyn McDonnell is an American writer and academic. Writing primarily about popular culture, music, and society, she "helped to forge a new kind of feminism for her generation." She is associate professor of journalism and new media at Loyola Marymount University.
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